Generic Versus Branded Medicines Available on the Local Market

This paper presents a survey study of generic and branded medicines available on the local market. The study was carried out on solid dosage forms (Tablets and capsules) for 53 medications available at the time of study in 69 pharmacies located in Tripoli, Libya. Physical specifications (generic name, batch number, manufacture date, expiry date and the manufacturer) as appeared on the package for each product were recorded in a designed form. The retail price at the time of study for each innovator brand and the counterpart generic was also recorded and compared. Results showed that 234 (89%) generics and 29 (11%) branded medicines were available for the studied medicines. The generics medicines were antibiotics (28%), cardiovascular (24.36%), analgesics and antipyretics (12.5%), gastrointestinal (12.8%), for respiratory tract (0.85%), anti-Anthistamin (7.26%), for adiabatic (3%), for vitamins and minerals (6%) and corticosteroid (1%) medicines. The original suppliers of the generics were European countries (42%), Arabian countries (41%) and other region of the world (17%). The retail prices for the generics were significantly (p > 0.05) lower compared to the price of innovator brand counterpart. The study suggests post-marketing surveillance studies for the available generics in comparison to the innovators especially in terms of therapeutic efficiency.